RIP Napster: The Passing Of A Digital Music Pioneer

It's the end of an era (sort of). Napster, the digital audio file sharing pioneer that disrupted the music industry in 1999, is merging with the on-demand music service Rhapsody. Some may miss the iconic site. Others may have forgotten it even existed. Whether you're sad to see Napster go or not, there's no denying the unprecedented ripple effect it has had in the digital space. (Case in point: Grooveshark, Spotify etc.) After entering a lions den of copyright infringement controversy, Napster ultimately paved the way for Apple's iTunes and changed the face of the music business.

Here's some online reaction to the news.

As part of the merger, Best Buy, the current owner of Napster, is getting a share of Rhapsody, which in turn is getting all of Napster's subscribers.